Mad Love (Hearts Are Wild): Hearts Are Wild (5 page)

Toby’s gut twisted.

He’d gotten what he wanted, only he wasn’t
happy about it because Madison wasn’t happy. Every instinct he had
screamed for him to retract. To tell her not to worry—give her an
out. Except he knew if he did, he’d never get another shot at being
with her outside of school hours.

He grabbed her hand. “C’mon. I know the best
pizza place in town.”

***

Madison allowed Tobias to lead her across the
parking lot. His hand was so large it swallowed hers whole. Instead
of instilling fear as she thought a man of his size would, he
inspired comfort, safety, encouraged compliance.

She didn’t understand what had just happened.
Oh, she knew she’d agreed to dinner—which would make three nights
in a row she’d eaten with him—it was the other thing she couldn’t
comprehend.

Something had shifted. Some wire had sparked
or crossed or broken loose and flapped around, because in those
seconds that she’d stared into his dark-chocolate eyes, Madison had
wanted to do whatever he asked.

She’d never experienced anything like it.

One instant she couldn’t wait to get away
from him and the next she had the urge to step forward. Press her
body against his and see if he was as hard beneath that polo shirt
as he looked…if her memory of his firm muscles rippling beneath her
fingers was accurate.

She sighed.

It had taken less than twenty-four hours in
his company to work out what it was about Tobias Moreland that
rubbed her the wrong way.

He rubbed her the
right
way.

Madison was attracted to Tobias ‘Call Me
Toby’ Moreland.

Her dislike of him wasn’t the only thing
she’d gotten completely wrong.

She’d labeled him.

Cast him as the dumb jock. Slapped a
stereotype cap on his head and dismissed him. And worse yet, she’d
insulted him in front of the students by
telling
them he
didn’t have the expertise to answer their questions.

Could she be any more of a narrow-minded,
pretentious bitch?

She owed him an apology.

Except she was afraid that would encourage
him to befriend her, and she didn’t do friends very well. Not since
she’d skipped three grades in high school and been forced to spend
time with older peers who found it fun to mess with their socially
inept classmate.

“We’ll come back for your car.” Tobias opened
the passenger door of a low-slung sports car.

“Oh, no, I—” She turned her head, tried to
move around him.

“Easier this way.” He urged her into the seat
with one hand at her back and one on her shoulder. “We won’t have
to search for two parking spots.”

She slid into the seat with no further
resistance. He shut the door and jogged around the back of the car.
Taking a single vehicle made sense. What
didn’t
was this
meek woman, complying with all his requests.

The driver’s door opened. “Look, Tobias—”

“Toby.”

“What?”

“Call me Toby. Only my mother calls me
Tobias, remember.” He buckled his seat belt, started the car and
grinned at her. “And it usually means I’m getting an ear-twist in
the near future.”

“Right. Well, anyway, I don’t want to give
you the wrong idea—”

He turned towards her, one arm resting along
the top of the steering wheel, the other on the back of her seat,
and leaned close. “Let’s see if I’ve got the idea so far. You don’t
want to have dinner with me. You want to go home and write up the
report without my input and never have to see me again except in
passing in the school halls.”

Madison swallowed. “Ah…”

Toby’s lips twitched. “I’ll take that as
agreement.”

He wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Answer me this. Is it people in general you
don’t like or just me?”

She sucked in a breath. “I don’t know what
you mean.”

“Yes you do.” He moved away, straightened in
his seat and put the car in reverse. “We’ll table that question for
after dinner. Buckle up.”

“After dinner?” Madison snapped her belt into
place.

He maneuvered the car out of the parking lot
and onto the road. “Yeah. I’ve got plans for our dinner
conversation and it doesn’t include an uncomfortable Q&A
session.”

“What does it include?” The fact he’d thought
about what they would discuss intrigued Madison.

“Report-filling-out and getting-to-know-you
conversation.”

“That sounds like a Q&A session to me.”
She kept her eyes on the road in front of them. Less chance of
getting distracted by his strong hands gripping the wheel. His
fingers were long and thick, and Madison felt a quiver go through
her when she thought about them stroking over her skin.

Toby laughed. “Yes. But it’s not the
uncomfortable kind. We’ll talk about our likes and dislikes, our
families and friends, but not the scars left behind by
ex-lovers.”

“What makes you think—?”

“Madison, you have heartbreak written all
over you.”

“I’ve never had my heart broken.”

Toby glanced up to find Madison staring at
the slice of pizza on her plate. She looked so confused…lost. Which
he realized were not regular things for her to be. “What?”

“You said I had heartbreak written all over
me, but how can I when I’ve never had my heart broken?”

Was she kidding? “You’ve never been in
love?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“So what?” He grinned. “You’re the
heartbreaker?”

Little creases formed between her eyebrows
and he wanted to reach over and smooth them out. “I’m not sure,”
she murmured.

His grin turned to a frown. “How could you
not know if you’d broken a guy’s heart?”

Madison sighed and reached for her glass of
water—she’d refuse wine. She took a sip before putting it down on
the table and finally making eye contact with him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been
in
love
. I’ve loved. I think. But when we went in different
directions it wasn’t traumatic or a drama.” She chewed the corner
of her mouth. “Just…no more.”

Toby shook his head. “I don’t get it. Did you
date idiots?”

“Pardon?”

“Look at you.” He waved his hand in her
direction. “You’re drop-dead gorgeous. You’re intelligent.
Extremely so. You’re independent. I don’t see the flaw so it has to
be in them.”

Color rose up her neck and filled her cheeks
with a pretty glow and Toby wondered how far down her chest that
wash of blush went. He wanted to peel back the collar of her shirt
and find out. He’d nearly had a heart attack this morning when
she’d emerged from her room in that top. Gone was the usual
shapeless high-necked blouse. In its place was a silky-looking,
black, sleeveless button-down shirt that skimmed her collarbones
and revealed an enticing amount of cleavage and had his libido
jumping.

He wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d tried to
catch a glimpse down her top at numerous times throughout the day.
Of course he’d had to be ultra-careful, seeing how they were at
work and surrounded by twenty very curious, highly intelligent
teenagers who were probably more flush with hormones than he
was.

Clearing his throat, he tried to yank his
thoughts out of her cleavage.

“Thank you.”

Her soft words had him leaning forward. It
had nothing to do with the fact he wanted to get closer to her.
Nothing at all. “Don’t thank me for something beyond my
control.”

“It’s polite to thank someone for a
compliment.” Madison’s nose scrunched up, her forehead furrowed,
and those lips he wanted to taste curved down on the ends.

“And you’re always polite?” He was starting
to get a clear picture of who she was. While she’d revealed very
little other than she was an only child to older parents—both
highly respected in the academic world—she’d given away more by how
she said things, her mannerisms.

“Of course.”

“Politically correct?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Not judgmental?”

“No.”

“And yet, you labeled me with a
stereotype.”

Madison’s hand stopped halfway to her mouth,
her pizza slice held in midair. Her eyes went wide and her mouth
parted on a sharp inhalation.

It took her a moment to react, and Toby had
to bite his tongue to stop himself from rescuing her from the
awkward situation, but she returned the slice to her plate then
wiped her hands on her napkin carefully.

She met his gaze head-on. “I’m sorry.”

He arched an eyebrow. “For?”

“Judging a book by its cover.”

“So I look stupid?”

“What? No!” She frowned.

Toby smiled. “It’s okay, I get what you
mean.”

“No, it’s not okay. Not at all.” Her frown
deepened.

He shrugged. “It’s not the first time.”
Although no other time had bothered him the way it did with
Madison. “Probably won’t be the last either.”

“And that makes me feel worse.”

“I don’t see how.” Toby took a sip of his
beer. The only one he was having. Not only was he driving, he
needed to have his wits about him for dealing with Madison.

She was quiet for a while and he thought she
wasn’t going to comment further, but he should have known better
than to think Madison wouldn’t own up to her prejudice or consider
the situation with serious intent.

“I’ve never done that before. Assumed
something about someone I don’t know. But with you…”

One delicate shoulder lifted and a pale-pink
bra strap slipped from beneath her shirtsleeve to rest on her upper
arm. He wanted to peel it all the way down. Right after he undid
the six buttons on her shirt—yes, he’d counted them—and pushed it
from her shoulders.

“You make me think things I don’t normally
think.” Her skin flushed a rosy pink and her eyelids lowered.

Toby sat up straighter. “Oh?”

“I like you.”

He was stunned. She liked him? Grinning, he
said, “Jeez. If you think I’m stupid when you like me, I can’t
imagine what you’d think if you hated me.”

It took a moment for that sink in, and when
it did, neither of them missed the funny side. Or held back their
laughter.

***

Madison couldn’t recall enjoying an evening
more than this one. Couldn’t remember ever feeling this comfortable
and relaxed—
normal
. She hadn’t once second-guessed what to
say or felt as though she shouldn’t be here. It was a new
experience.

After she’d admitted liking Toby—and lord,
why had she done that?—they’d settled in to finish their meal and
the conversation had flowed between them.

She’d told him things she’d never said out
loud before.

Why she’d revealed anything about her lonely
childhood was a mystery. All she knew was he made her relax, feel
safe. The only time she felt this free was when she dealt with the
teenagers she taught.

Their talk hadn’t all been a serious rehash
of their pasts either. They’d spoken about books, movies, food,
places. In a little less than two hours, they’d crossed several
different conversation bridges.

While laughing and talking, they’d eaten
their way through a family-size pizza—Toby consuming six slices to
her two—and a shared bowl of banana sorbet. Madison popped the last
spoonful of the sugary treat into her mouth, closed her eyes and
leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

“Damn, that was delicious.” She placed a hand
on her full stomach.

“Yes. It most certainly is.” His voice was a
low rumble that vibrated over her skin.

She opened her eyes to find Toby staring at
her mouth. Nerves tingled and goose bumps marched down her arms as
she slipped her tongue out to lick across her trembling bottom lip.
“D-do I have some on my face?”

“No.”

“Then—”

“I want to kiss you.”

Her stomach flipped. Clenched. “O-okay.” The
word whispered over her tongue.

“Your mouth. Your neck. Your tits.” He leaned
in, his eyes darkening with each word he spoke. “Your belly. Your
legs. And most of all, I want to press my mouth into the sweet spot
I know I’ll find between your thighs.”

His mouth was centimeters from hers. When had
he gotten so close? When had she met him halfway?

Breaths mingled, warm and sweet.

“Tell me I can, Mad.” Toby’s lips brushed
hers. “Tell me I can take everything I want and more.”

“Yes.” The word hissed through her teeth on a
shuddering breath.

Madison thought she knew what to expect. What
it would be like to have his mouth pressed against hers.

She was wrong.

So so wrong.

He didn’t rush, press hard. There was no
demand.

Instead he caressed. Skimmed and shifted
until Madison couldn’t do anything except chase.

She wanted more than the light, tantalizing
brush of his lips.

She wanted the sharp thrust of his
tongue.

She wanted deep driving strokes that left her
breathless.

The nip of his teeth. Darkly delicious wet
heat.

She wanted in a way she never had.

The piercing need that speared through her
belly and into her core had her pulling away, jerking back so fast
her elbow bumped her glass and sent it flying across the table. Her
chair rocked as she sat down hard. When had she lifted out of her
seat?

Fingers trembling, she brought them to her
mouth.

Toby stared at her. His eyes black, the dark
brown obliterated by his swollen pupils. He sucked in haggard
breaths, his nostrils flaring wide, and there was a twitch in the
line of his jaw that brought to mind strength—control.

“I—” She had no idea what to say.

A determined glint sparked in his eyes. He
surged to his feet and pulled his wallet from his pocket. Tossing
cash on the table, he growled, “Let’s go.”